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New Panthers Ownership

A sports trust, that includes baseball Hall of Famer and former Atlanta Brave Hank Aaron, is reportedly buying the NHLís Florida Panthers for $240 million, according to Reuters.

Sports Properties Acquisition Corp. (Amex: HMR-U), or SPAC, a venture that boasts Aaron as a board member, has reportedly agreed to buy the Panthers; its arena, the BankAtlantic Center; the arenaís management firm and land, an unnamed source familiar with the deal told Reuters Tuesday.

A call to a representative of Aaronís was not immediately returned.

By league rules, the deal must be approved by 75 percent of the NHL's 30 teams.

Published reports last August linked SPAC to a bid to buy the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball club. The Toronto Star reported the group also has been linked to a bid to purchase the NHLís Phoenix Coyotes, a team that is currently involved in bankruptcy litigation and is up for sale.

SPACís board includes Fred Malek, a Chicago native who is the founder and chairman of Thayer Capital Partners; Tony Tavares, a former baseball executive with the Nationals; their predecessor, the Montreal Expos; and the then-California Angels; and former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a one-time minor league baseball player.

Asked about the perceived lean toward buying a baseball team by Atlanta Business Chronicle in January 2008, SPAC Vice Chairman Andrew Murstein, said SPAC would be ďvery open-minded to any of the sports.Ē